


A New Son

by InkFire_Scribe



Category: Delivery Caribou
Genre: Adoption, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Gen, Mother-Son Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:08:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26340919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkFire_Scribe/pseuds/InkFire_Scribe
Summary: Donner brings home a new son for his mother, and hopes she'll have enough love for two boys.
Kudos: 5





	1. The Surprise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CraftyDemonite](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CraftyDemonite/gifts).



It wasn't uncommon to hear the ringing of a delivery caribou's brass bells as one came trotting into town. It was part of the reason Gala liked to keep the front window open when she was inside. The workbench creaked a little under her fluffy white bulk, the waft of warm steam carrying the scent of her favorite soap into her face as she worked the pedals with her forelegs, churning the wash water. Most cows would have used a long, heavy paddle and a larger tub, and got through more laundry than she could with the setup Blitzen had made for her, this worked better for a cow with no way to see when a thing was properly clean. 

For that reason, most of their daily wear clothing was cleaned by the next-door neighbor, a kind cow by the name of Audhild who had been a friend when they were smaller and less busy with calves of their own. And on Friday, they would be free to attend that reading down at the gathering hall...

Gala's ears twitched upright, and at first she wasn't sure why. Then she heard the distinctive dual tone of Donner's twin bells, one slightly smaller than the other. They chimed slightly out of time with one another, and for a moment Gala wondered if she could be mistaken. After all, it sounded like two caribou instead of just one... but no, those were certainly Donner's bells. Hastily, she pulled the blanket from the tub and wrung it out as best she could, hanging it over the drying line strung up before the fire. 

By the time her hands were free, the bells were nearly at the front door, and she could hear Donner's cheerful voice calling out to her over the sound of his out of sync bells. "Mum! I brought'cha a surprise!" 

Gala moved toward the door with a hand extended, and found her son's strong hands there to meet her. For all that he was a full-grown bull, she loved hearing him come home. 

"You didn't need to bring anything home for me, darling. You being here is more than enough." She ran her free hand up his arm, feeling the hard muscles under his fluffy coat, and the strong branching antlers on his well-groomed head. "Oh, Donny, you've gotten so big. I bet you look just like your father." Yes - there was the little hook to the brow tines just clear of his hair. Just like Blitzen's. 

"Aw, Mum..." Donner sounded embarrassed, but not in a way that communicated that he was upset. Just that he felt too old for this kind of fussing. "I did bring ya something, though. You just gotta promise to be gentle, alright?" 

Gala blinked in surprise, wondering why he would need to warn her. "Of course. What is it?" 

She felt him shift, heard the soft shuffle of fabric as he made a gesture, then the soft clip of little hooves and the chiming of Donner's smaller bell. What that meant dawned on her only as Donner guided her hand to rest on the top of a small, fluffy head. A calf, as stout and soft as her own had been once upon a time. And she could feel him shaking under her hand. 

"Oh!" Without even a thought for dignity, Gala went down on her knees, folding her legs gracefully under her own fluffy body as she let her hands ghost gently over the calf Donner had presented her with. 

"This is Rudy. He's... he needs a family, Mum. I'll take him with me, so you don't need to worry about it, but... well, I wanted you to meet him. He's the best little buddy I've ever met." Gala could hear the nervousness in Donner's tone, and felt torn between laughing and crying. This poor calf had obviously been through much in his short life. Finding one of his small, pudgy hands in it swarm woolen mitten, she clasped it with a smile. Part of her wanted to welcome him "properly" into her home, but there were things more important than propriety. Instead, she nuzzled his ears and took in his sweet, mildly sweaty odor. A little bull, not quite ready to bud his first set of antlers. It made her almost dizzy remembering Donner when he was this small.

"Rudy, thank you for bringing Donner home to me. Once you have your coats off, could you come into the kitchen and help me make a snack for you two? I can't always find where I put things." She felt him tense a little, and gave his hand a comforting squeeze. "Donner used to do the same thing for me when he was younger. Didn't you, Donny?" 

"Used to?" She could hear him pulling off his coat even as he chuckled. "I still do, every time I come visit. Here, Rudy. Pass me your coat and I'll hang it up near the fire."

Even as the calf pulled his little hand from hers and started to remove his coat, she could sense his hesitation, and pretended not to notice, getting carefully to her feet and trying to remember how far from the fire her workbench was. 

"Y-you... y-you really d-don't mind?" Rudy had a soft, squeaky little voice and a bad stutter, so it took a moment for Gala to sort out what it was he'd said. As soon as she understood, she smiled. 

"Of course I don't mind. Any friend of Donner's is welcome here. It's been too long since we had a little calf around here anyway." She heard Donner moving away, and extended a hand toward where she thought Rudy was. "Can you lead me around the workbench, Rudy? I've gotten so excited I clean forgot where it is." 

He huffed and shuffled a little, his bell ringing softly, and after a moment he took her hand, tugging her toward the kitchen. 


	2. The Bell

Was it worth it? Would it get him in trouble? Would she be upset? Rudy twisted his scarf's frayed end between his hands, tugging it so tight around his own neck that it was a little hard to breathe. Donner leaned over him and loosened the accidental noose before his new ward could strangle himself out of anxiety. 

"It's gonna be fine. She'll like to have something to do for you. It's her way." Donner's antlers were big and impressive, looming over Rudy like small trees on his brother's head. Brother. That was still a strange thought. Rudy squirmed, tugging on his scarf again, then looking at the bell in his hand. It was near the size of his fist, the slightly smaller one out of the two Donner had been wearing when they met. One of the errands today was probably to get a replacement for it. But... Rudy looked up into Donner's kindly face, worry all over his round childish eyes. 

"Don't worry," Donner assured him, and gave him a nudge toward the little hill where Gala sat in the snow with her sewing, listening to the gossip from the next hill over. "I won't leave without you. I promise." 

Yes... that was what had worried him. Honestly, he wouldn't have blamed Donner if he  _ had _ wanted to get away for a while, but the fact that he wasn't doing that made something warm and happy inflate in his chest. Rudy pressed himself into his brother's warm flank, taking courage from his musky scent and sturdy bulk. Then, squaring his small shoulders, Rudy gripped the bell and his scarf tightly in both hands and walked up to Gala, trembling all over. 

Her ears twitched toward him, and she turned her head a little, but she didn't seem to "look" at him, and she didn't stop sewing. "Is that Rudy?" she asked with a smile, a note of delight in her tone. 

Rudy shuddered, not sure if he was happy to hear her say his name or not. It meant she'd noticed him, for sure, and that meant he couldn't just run away if the words wouldn't come out. His heart started to pound as he stared up into her milky eyes and tried to make his clumsy tongue form the sounds. 

"Y... y-y.... yyyes m-m-ma'am." He gasped, glad to have that part over with at least. Gala stayed calmly where she was, sewing the hem of a large blanket with one ear tipped toward him, waiting for him to tell her what he was there for. It reminded him so much of Donner that he actually looked back over his shoulder to see if Donner was still watching from the house. He was, of course, standing on the cleared area in front of the door with a faint smile on his face. He was watching, but he was confident enough that Rudy would be able to do this on his own that he didn't follow him up the hill. 

Was that good or nerve-wracking? Both? Probably both. 

Rudy looked back at Gala, who hadn't said anything more. She waited quietly, listening, and Rudy took a deep breath. "M-m-ma'am? I w-was... I was... I w-w-was wondering if m-m-maybe I could... if maybe... if m-maybe I could ask a... a... a favor?" He had recited these words in his head all morning. He wanted it to be official. He wanted it to be permanent. He wanted it so bad it was like bellyache, and this was the only way he could really make it come true. 

"Of course, honey." Gala lowered her sewing and turned her head toward him, though her milky eyes were apparently focused some distance over his head. "What can I do for you?" 

Rudy struggled for a minute with words that clogged up in his throat and jumbled in his brain, and at last he pushed the bell and scarf into her hands. He didn't let go of the scarf. He couldn't. He wouldn't. It was all he had left. Gala's white hands felt over the bell with a smile, then fingered the scarf and its threadbare places. 

"Ah. You'd like me to sew the bell on?" 

Rudy made an affirmative noise in his throat, deeply relieved that she understood without him needing to say it all. 

"Of course. It would only take a moment. Can you show me where you want the bell to sit?" She extended her hands, the scarf draped over her fingers, and for a moment, Rudy couldn't think. He could only remember his mother leaning down, big and fuzzy and pale, and wrapping the scarf about his neck as a little calf. He couldn't remember what her voice sounded like anymore, but he imagined she might have sounded a bit like Gala. Soft and kind. 

Carefully, he folded the scarf in half and put her hand over the fold, where it would sit under his chin when he wrapped it around and tucked it in the way Donner showed him how. 

With a smile, the white cow took the scarf and the bell and sewed it on with a dozen quick stitches, tying it off and giving it a light tug to ensure it was nice and firm. "There you go. Try it on and let's see how that sounds." 

Rudy took his scarf back with trembling hands and did how Donner had showed him, Fold, wrap, thread through like a needle, then tuck the loose ends down in his coat. Then he moved about a bit, hearing the bell chime soft and brassy right under his chin. It was like a little song, singing that he was in a place where he belonged. Finally. 

A soft, warm hand settled between his ears, and he looked up into Gala's smiling face. She was happy, too, and that made everything better. He cuddled against her side, smelling how her scent was like Donner's, but less like sweat and more like bread and honey. It was a good smell. 

Rudy had just started to let go of her, ready to scamper back to Donner and the safety of knowing his brother wasn't going to leave, when a loud masculine voice bellowed out across the open space from the other side of the clearing, where the post office was. There was a big reddish bull with magnificent branching antlers there, looking at them with the sort of intensity that usually meant he was in Big Trouble. 

"Oi, lovey! Who's that with ya?" And all at once, he was thundering toward them. Gala didn't seem at all disturbed. Just as she had for Rudy, she turned her ears and face toward the speaker and smiled, waiting for him to come closer. Rudy, however, felt in imminent danger of being trampled. Every instinct he possessed was screaming at him to run, because this strange bull was big and strong and coming at him very fast. Whipping around, heart pounding, Rudy was ready to bolt back down the hill to Donner, only to realize to his terror that Donner wasn't where he'd left him. The young bull had gone back inside, and was probably getting things done while he waited for his little brother to come back. 

Even though he knew that was probably true, Rudy couldn't help the feeling of betrayal and abandonment that swept through him. Donner had  _ promised _ not to leave without him. This wasn't the way it was supposed to work. He was supposed to keep his promises. Confused, hurt, scared, he froze, his legs braced wide and his heart in his mouth. Words were far far away. Words were for other people.  _ He was going to die _ . 

"Dear." Gala's soft voice brought the thunder bull to a stop just a couple yards from where they stood. He was standing on the slope a little below them, which meant that when Rudy turned around to look at him, they were almost eye-to-eye. "Try to be gentle, please. Rudy is new." 

The bull looked at Gala, then at Rudy, and lowered his head a little, ears a-twitch with interest. "New, huh? Where'd you come from, short stack?" 

Rudy made a noise that probably wasn't anything like any of the words that he should have said, but it was at least abundantly clear that he was too afraid to reply. 

"What'd I do?" The big delivery caribou looked confused, but Gala got to her feet, reaching out to him. 

"He just needs a little time, dear. Rudy, this is Donner's father, Blitzen. He's a little noisy, but I promise he's alright." She paused, smiling as Blitzen took her hand in both of his. "Why don't you go find Donner? I think I hear him inside the house." 

It was as if her words had released the locks on his legs, and suddenly he was free to scamper down the hill to the house and look reproachfully at Donner for leaving him alone with the scary bull. But... he hesitated. Staying as far away from Blitzen as he could, he edged up against Gala's flank and leaned against her one more time, trying to say thank you without words. She smiled and reached back to touch his head, and didn't even jump when he whirled away like a little tornado and sprinted back to the house, his bell ringing madly. 

"Jumpy lil' fella, isn't he?" Blitzen's voice carried easily across the space to the house, and Rudy could hear him very clearly as he reached the door. 

"Be nice. Donner brought him home. He needs a family, and he can be part of ours." 

"'Course he can! I was just sayin'-" 

The door closed and there was Donner, looking at him from the back room, where all their gear was by the other door. He was dressed and ready to go, smiling at his little brother. "I told you it would work out, didn't I?" If he was surprised when the calf bolted across the room and clung to his flank like a caribou-shaped piece of velcro, he didn't say anything about it. Rudy was glad, but had plans to give him the biggest, most disappointed sad eyes he could. Later. When things were a little calmer. It was only fair, after all. They were brothers now. 


End file.
